Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 5

by Hiro Ainana

  “Hi, Mia.”

  “…Mrrrr?”

  Mia answered my greeting with a short nod, then squinted rather unpleasantly at Miss Sara behind me.

  Must be in a bad mood.

  “It’s nice to meet you. I am Sara of Tenion Temple.”

  “Mm. Mia.”

  Mia barely acknowledged Miss Sara’s polite greeting and brusquely offered nothing but her name, without pausing her playing.

  “Is that a traditional song of the village of Bolenan?”

  “Wagner.”

  Mia shook her head at Miss Sara’s question and answered with a word.

  The song Mia strummed on her lute was Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.”

  After I had played my ringtone for her once, she had copied it perfectly by ear. The instrumentation was different, of course, but Mia had made up an arrangement of her own.

  “Are you entertaining the soldiers while they train?”

  “Requested.”

  Mia looked past us toward Sir Zotol, a knight who had been appointed to reorganize the barony’s armed forces. He appeared to be refereeing for the soldiers’ bouts and hadn’t noticed us.

  “Next! Miss Nana and Miss Karina versus Miss Liza!” he shouted, and three girls appeared from among the soldiers.

  The first to enter the field was Liza of the orange Scalefolk tribe, shaking out her long scarlet locks. She would have looked like an ordinary human were it not for her lizard-like tail and patches of orange scales on her arms and neck.

  At level 14, she was the highest level of my companions.

  The black armor she was wearing was handmade by yours truly.

  It was made from hydra leather and ironshell fruit, with defense stronger than steel. It was only slightly heavier than normal leather armor, too, so it wouldn’t slow down her agility.

  I was very proud of my work. The only problem was that the black color of hydra leather and ironshells made the wearer look very intimidating.

  “Hey, get a load of that demi-human’s spear.”

  “A weapon made from monster parts…? That’s a rare sight.”

  “She must be a former labyrinth explorer or monster hunter.”

  The temple knights murmured among themselves as they eyed Liza’s spear.

  I’d heard of labyrinth explorers already, but “monster hunter” sounded like a cool title, too. I’d have to get them to tell me about it over dinner or something.

  “Master!”

  Nana came onto the field after Liza, then noticed us and called out to me with a big wave. The exaggerated movement shook her golden hair as well as her ample breasts.

  Nana was wearing the same armor as Liza. Unlike the slender Liza, Nana had a rather large bust, so making her chest piece from the ironshells took some time.

  “Liza, master is watching us from over there, I report.”

  On hearing this, Liza looked to us with a dignified expression and bowed in our direction.

  Nana looked like an ordinary human girl of around high school age, but she was actually a homunculus who had been artificially created less than a year ago. It was no surprise that her face was generally a mask and she spoke in a strangely stilted way.

  Fortunately, she was wearing a hidden item called an Amulet of Humanity, so there was no danger of her true nature being discovered even if someone analyzed her.

  As our shield maiden since we’d entered the Muno Barony, she was up to level 10 now.

  The last contender in the ring was Baron Muno’s second daughter, Karina.

  She made a big entrance, leaping over the soldiers and somersaulting in midair.

  The reason she could pull off such superhuman moves was her Intelligent Item, a necklace called Raka that granted her Body Strengthening.

  Her blond curls fell perfectly into place as she lined up next to Nana.

  Miss Karina was only level 8, but that was a huge improvement from when we first found her collapsed in the forest.

  “Whoa…”

  “Oh, grow up.”

  Guy Knight’s whistle of admiration met a resentful grumble from Lady Knight.

  The reaction was probably to Miss Karina’s incredibly bountiful bosom. Even Nana’s E cups looked small in comparison.

  “Begin!”

  On Sir Zotol’s signal, Liza readied her spear and charged toward Nana, whose shield was already raised.

  Before the weapons could meet, though, a transparent magic shield blocked their path.

  “Hmm, so that shield girl’s a Practical Magic user? If she’s not equipped with a staff, she must have a ring or something as the catalyst.”

  Guy Knight evaluated Nana.

  Sorry, but Nana’s not actually using Practical Magic—it’s a special ability homunculi have called Foundation.

  Unlike Practical Magic, it didn’t require an incantation to cast, but the disadvantage was that she could use only preset techniques. Installing new spells would require a special facility.

  Plus, a magic rune appeared on her forehead when she used it, so it’d draw attention if she wasn’t wearing a helmet.

  “That girl with the curly hair… Was that a blue light?!”

  “Is she wearing some kind of Holy Armor?!”

  The knights exclaimed with surprise at Miss Karina, who was hiding behind Nana.

  “Lady Karina!!”

  “Yes, Mr. Raka!”

  At the urging of her necklace’s low, masculine voice, Miss Karina jumped out from behind Nana for a surprise attack on Liza.

  The blue light from Raka’s core left a faint afterimage, making her movements clearer.

  “So fast! How can she do that?!”

  To intercept Miss Karina’s inhumanly swift surprise attack, Liza swung up her spear with one hand and fended her off.

  Then Nana fired off a Magic Arrow.

  Hey, I told her not to use attack magic in a practice match. I’ll have to scold Nana later.

  “Whoa, that must’ve been one fast chant!”

  “No way, how’s she gonna dodge?”

  Liza avoided the Magic Arrow by quickly dropping to the ground.

  With Liza’s stance compromised, Nana swept in to strike with her large shield.

  But the shield was a bit too high. Plus…

  With a heavy thud, the shield sent someone rolling across the practice field.

  “Oh dear, some friendly fire there…”

  Miss Karina had jumped into the fray without thinking, and Nana’s shield clocked her instead.

  Raka’s scalelike white shields flashed in and out around her, easing the impact.

  “Is she all right?”

  “Don’t worry; she’s fine. See? She’s already standing up.” I smiled back at Miss Sara to assuage her concern for Miss Karina.

  Raka’s defense power was pretty high, so even an attack from a level-20 lesser demon wouldn’t leave a scratch on her equipment. So far, I was the only person who’d managed to break through Raka’s defense.

  The three-person battle continued in Liza’s favor. This was not due to the difference in their levels but poor communication between Nana and Miss Karina.

  Between Nana’s Foundation techniques and Miss Karina’s Strength Enhancement from Raka, the level gap would have been a poor excuse.

  Eventually, Nana was deemed unable to battle, and it became a showdown between Liza and Miss Karina.

  Liza’s magic spear cut a red streak through the air as she barreled toward Karina with all her might.

  “…‘Spellblade’?”

  “No, it’s incomplete…”

  The knights’ words caught my attention, so I turned toward them inquisitively.

  “Incomplete, you say?”

  “Yeah, that girl hasn’t mastered ‘Spellblade’ yet. About half a year before one of my superiors learned ‘Spellblade,’ her weapon left magic traces like that while she was fighting.”

  I see. That’s good to know.

  Most likely, Liza didn’t have enough skill
points to acquire the “Spellblade” skill.

  Once we set out on the next leg of our journey, I’d have to pit Liza against some more monsters.

  As I was thinking about these things, the trio’s fight ended, and Sir Zotol began reviewing key points from the match.

  I waved to them and left the area, resuming Miss Sara’s tour.

  “So that young lady with the curls was Baron Muno’s daughter?!”

  “That’s right. She was even on the front lines in the defense of Muno City a few days ago.”

  When I told the temple knights and Miss Sara about Miss Karina’s identity, the latter was especially shocked.

  “Mistress, she sounds just like your elder sister, Lady Linegrande.”

  “Please refrain from calling me ‘mistress.’ You are not wrong, though… My sister, though the daughter of a duke, always did enjoy training for battle.”

  “And magic, too! Why, she revived the lost magic of two family lines at the royal academy, defeated a floormaster in the labyrinth of Celivera, and a hero even personally requested her to become an attendant!”

  Lady Knight’s eyes sparkled as she gushed about the accomplishments of Miss Sara’s sister.

  If these stories were true, then this Lady Linegrande must be an exceptionally talented person.

  Miss Sara appeared to have some reservations about her sister, though, as she gave no response to the praise.

  In fact, upon closer inspection, I saw that her hands were clenched so tightly that her fingers were turning white.

  She seemed to be suppressing some powerful emotions. Perhaps a well of passion lurked beneath that perpetually calm exterior.

  As I speculated about her inner conflict, an excited voice rang out from the second floor of the barracks in front of us.

  “Ah! It’s master, sir!”

  Tail whipping back and forth, the dog-eared Pochi leaned out the window and waved.

  She was in charge of cleaning the barracks with the children in the castle’s custody, so she was wearing loose, comfortable clothes: a white shirt and yellow shorts. The ribbon tied in a bow beneath her collar was a charming touch.

  The maids had kindly cut her tawny-brown hair into a neat bob, and now she was more adorable than ever.

  “It’s truuue?”

  Tama, with her feline ears and tail, popped up eagerly behind Pochi. Her pure-white hair was short and fluffy as usual. Despite her sporty appearance, Tama had a penchant for cute, girlie clothing and was wearing a pink culotte skirt. Her top was the same white shirt as Pochi’s.

  Her shirt had a similar ribbon, too, but this one had a lace border.

  “…Animal-eared folk?!”

  I heard an exclamation of surprise from Miss Sara.

  Guess the likes of cat-eared folk and dog-eared folk are rare even in the Ougoch Duchy.

  Tama and Pochi disappeared from the window and before long came dashing out the entrance of the barracks.

  They seemed to be carrying something in their arms.

  “Did you finish cleaning up?”

  “Aaaye!”

  “We were all exploring the attic together, sir.”

  The two of them were puffed up with pride and hoping for some praise.

  “Great job,” I told them, petting their heads; both of them scrunched up their faces and giggled. “By the way, what are you two carrying?”

  In response, they both held their objects out toward me.

  “Preeey!”

  “Look at this, master!”

  Next to me, Miss Sara couldn’t seem to resist taking a peek herself.

  “Waah!”

  She let out a cute little scream and grabbed my right arm against her chest.

  Just as I thought, she was probably a C cup. Might even be coming up on a D cup.

  Evidently, the dead rats in the girls’ hands had startled her.

  “How dare you expose Lady Sara to such things!” Lady Knight gave an angry shout behind me, and I heard her starting to draw her sword.

  “Just a moment, please.”

  I turned around to protect the kids, reaching out my free hand to stop her.

  It was a total coincidence that I ended up almost hugging Miss Sara, who was still attached to my arm.

  Maybe it was a divine gift from the lucky lecher god.

  “You insolent cur! Get away from Lady Sara!”

  The indignant Lady Knight swung her sword at my head.

  Her intention seemed to be only to strike me with the flat, but a hit from a steel object at that speed would probably still be a serious injury for most people.

  I bent down in the nick of time to avoid the sword.

  “Oh my!”

  I swear on my life that I was not planning to face-plant into Miss Sara’s chest on my way down.

  Shaking off the momentary happiness that swathed my face, I quickly pulled away from Miss Sara and apologized sincerely.

  “I’m terribly sorry, Lady Sara.”

  “N-not to worry… I know it wasn’t intentional.”

  Miss Sara forgave me with only a slight flush of embarrassment on her cheeks, but her attendants didn’t seem so generous.

  “Stand behind me, Lady Sara.”

  Lady Knight stepped in front of Sara, pointing her sword at me.

  “Please put the sword away, Ina.”

  “But…”

  “Ina. Put it down.”

  “…Very well.”

  After Miss Sara and Guy Knight insisted, Lady Knight reluctantly returned the sword to its sheath.

  “Master, did me and Tama do something wrong, sir?”

  “Well, some people don’t like rats, so it’s best not to show them to others without warning, okay?” I gently explained to the teary-eyed children.

  “I understand, sir. I’m sorry for scaring you, ma’am.”

  “We’re sorry.”

  The girls bowed regretfully, and Miss Sara accepted their apologies with a kind smile.

  At the entrance of the barracks, the children who had been cleaning with Pochi and Tama were peeking this way.

  “That was quite a surprise. But everything is fine now.”

  Miss Sara noticed them and called out gently, and one by one the children ventured toward us.

  “Mister Viscount, we cleaned it all up.”

  “It’s good an’ clean now.”

  “We worked real hard.”

  One after another, the elementary school–aged children joined the crowd around me.

  “Great job, everyone,” I told them. I reached into Storage by way of my pocket and handed each one a sweet pastry as a reward for their hard work.

  We walked along with the children toward the barracks where they were currently living and that they had just cleaned. This was where the soldiers from the Ougoch Duchy would be staying.

  “Is it fun living here?”

  “Yup! We get to have breakfast and supper every day!”

  “There’s even dried meat once in a while!”

  The older children enthusiastically answered Miss Sara’s question.

  I wanted to give them better food to eat, but I kept that impulse down to avoid raising their expectations too much for their lives once we left Muno Barony.

  Yeah, I know I just gave them treats for finishing their work, but cut me some slack.

  As we approached the children’s barracks, the scents of steamed fish and fresh herbs wafted through the air.

  “Smells gooood?”

  “Smells like sasakama, sir!”

  “And what might sasakama be?” Unable to follow, Miss Sara looked to me to help.

  “It’s thinly diced fish steamed with herbs and grilled in the shape of a small board.”

  Unlike the fish we’d eaten upstream, our catches in the river in front of Muno City were rather dirty, so we steamed them with herbs before shaping them into an oval and cooking them. Their only similarity to the Japanese dish sasa kamaboko was the oval shape, but Arisa had mentioned the name. It stu
ck, hence sasakama.

  With the creation of sasakama, we were aiming to improve the food in Muno City while also creating a new local specialty.

  As I explained all this to Miss Sara, we arrived at the area next to the barracks where a group of young women was preparing the aforementioned dish.

  At the center of the group was a young girl in a maid outfit teaching the others.

  “Master!”

  The cheerful call came from Lulu, with her black hair, dark eyes, and Japanese features. If there were, say, three of her, I’d be willing to bet that her simple beauty could conquer a castle, maybe even the whole solar system.

  She pattered up to me, the indigo skirt of her maid outfit fluttering in the breeze. I’d designed this prototype with Arisa to look like something you’d see in Akihabara.

  She was smiling so widely that if she had a tail like Pochi’s, I was sure it would be wagging away.

  “Yikes, she’s a homely one.”

  “Cut it out. It’s unseemly for a temple knight to poke fun at someone’s appearance.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  Behind me, the temple knights muttered about Lulu as she rushed toward us.

  I’d come to learn that beauty standards in the Shiga Kingdom were very different from Japan; to them, Lulu’s incredible loveliness was repulsive.

  It really was a terrible thing that no one else appreciated her looks. If they had spoken loudly enough for Lulu to hear, I would’ve demanded an apology.

  “Master, we’ve finished a test dish with burdock and carrots. Could I ask you to taste it for us, please?”

  “Yeah, of course. Lulu, this is Lady Sara of the Tenion Temple.”

  “I-it’s nice to meet you!” Flustered, Lulu bowed hurriedly to Miss Sara.

  Seeing these two together was like a heavenly combination of Western- and Eastern-style beauty. If the pair formed an idol unit, I swear they could take over the world.

  “Taaaste?”

  “Pochi would be premist not to taste it, sir.”

  You mean “remiss,” Pochi.

  Tama and Pochi grabbed Lulu’s hands and dragged her back toward the spot where the sasakama was cooking.

  I beckoned to Miss Sara and followed toward the other women.

  “Sir Knight.” As we approached, one of the sasakama cooks came to meet us.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Thanks to you, sir, everyone is healthy, without a hungry or freezing soul in sight.”